Lalita Iyer

A GOOD COMFORTABLE DARSHAN AT PALANI Marudamalai is not too high, but there is a certain steepness to the steps and anyway climbing of any sort is painful for me and I do not like it, but with athletic friends like Akhila and Ravi, you kind of trudge along, hanging on to all the help you can get en route. Once you reach the top it always feels nice and of course we got a good darshan. Lord Muruga here was bathed in Vibhuthi or sacred ash.  Luckily for us there was not much of a crowd because everybody was busy with the local body elections. Many got Rs.1000 from the DMK and Rs. 2,000 and a pair of silver anklets nestled in a box from the AIADMK. Mr Kamalahassan came and gave his speech on behalf of his party MNM (Makkal Needi Maiam) and no money exchanged hands.  Walking down was that much easier with the breeze blowing gently. The weather in Coimbatore was very conducive for travels, but the roads and traffic not so much. We came down and there were some carts selling sliced ...

 THE LORD CALLED AND WE WENT I have been waiting for 15 years to go to Palani. My mother was very ill towards the last two years of her short life and she would pray to every single God and Goddess in our huge pantheon. She spent the last one year with Murali and me and in one of our conversations she wanted me to go to Palani and pray for her recovery. But her illness was such that every extra day we got with her was a bonus for us and huge suffering for her. She smiled through it and Appa was always by her side to help her deal with her  painful moods. I had told quite a few of my friends about wanting to visit Palani and then suddenly it all fell into place. Akhila and Ravi were wanting to visit Coimbatore to visit with Ravi's elder brother Shankar and wife Ramani. I also started calling them Anna and Manni. And Palani is just 110 kms from here. And since we were there we also checked into Dhanvantari, Isha and Marudamalai. Yes it was a tad hectic, but I had good company in...